Libra Raises Facebook Data Privacy Concerns
Facebook’s reputation has been repeatedly shaken over the last couple of years – and many of them had to do with data. Facebook is a data collecting machine: its billions of users willingly tell it what they like, what they hate, what their religion, location, and heaps of other information about themselves.

Where Bitcoin is not controlled by anyone, Libra will be controlled by the Libra Association that is planned to have at least 100 members by the time Facebook hopes to launch its new currency (sometime next year). All big data attached to Libra belong to Facebook.A massive user base. I mean, massive
How big will Libra be if it ever turns into reality? Let’s take a brief look at how many customers the founding members of the Libra Association has.
On one hand, we have Facebook (2+ billion users), Visa (over 2 billion cards and 40+ million merchants), eBay (180 million users), PayPal (over 250 million), and the list could go on and one.
Over time, it may grow into a massive international juggernaut with huge assets under its control, too big to be effectively regulated.

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Facebook Libra Instills New Fears of Privacy Over Big DataThe age of big data has created new privacy concerns. Just like Facebook has. And we’ve all seen where it has all led, right? Libra is a tool that relies extensively on big data. It might be invaluable, but it is unlikely to protect our privacy.

Salvador Rodriguez@sal19 29 July 2019
Facebook says in the risk factors section of its latest quarterly report that it can’t guarantee Libra “will be made available in a timely manner, or at all.”
The company has said it expects to launch the Libra digital currency in 2020.
Facebook has seen a flurry of pushback on Libra from U.S. and international regulators and lawmakers.

Regulators from the US, UK, EU and four other governments have asked Facebook to answer several questions about how it will protect user data. The social network has "not met [regulators'] expectations" of privacy in the past, officials said in a joint statement, and there should be assurances that Libra will do better.

The regulators want to know that Libra will have "robust measures" to protect personal data, including transparency, adequate privacy protection tools and a minimal collection of info.
The group expected answers from Facebook, although it didn't set a deadline. We've asked Facebook for comment.
Facebook will certainly have to address privacy concerns at some point.

Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency project is being probed again, this time by European Union antitrust regulators. The European Commission said it is "currently investigating potential anti-competitive behavior," related to the Libra Association, Bloomberg reports.
In a questionnaire sent out this month, the EU authority expressed concerns that Libra would unfairly shut out rivals.

The investigation, still in its early stages, is examining the governance structure and membership of the Libra Association.
According to Bloomberg, regulators fear that the way information will be exchanged and the use of consumer data could create "possible competition restrictions."

The US Treasury has already expressed its "serious concerns" regarding Libra. In particular, it noted fears that the digital currency could be misused by bad players, like money launderers and terrorist financiers.

At least three of Facebook’s early backers for its planned Libra stablecoin launch are considering withdrawing their support in light of the fierce regulatory pushback.
A report from the Financial Times on Aug. 23 alleges that two founding partners of Facebook’s Libra Association have held discussions about what their “right next steps” should be.

One further — again unnamed — backer is purportedly concerned that their public support for Libra will draw unwanted regulatory scrutiny of their own, independent businesses.Blame games
In an interview with the Financial Times, one partner noted that:

“I think it's going to be difficult for partners who want to be seen as in compliance [with their own regulators] to be out there supporting [Libra].”​

Another backer criticized the social media giant for its ill-conceived strategy, saying that:

“Some of those conversations [about regulation] should have taken place before the launch, to understand how regulators would think about this, so there wasn’t so much pushback.”​

Switzerland’s central bank is in close contact with relevant authorities over Facebook’s Geneva-based Libra cyptocurrency project, Swiss National Bank Vice-Chairman Fritz Zurbruegg said on Tuesday.

“At the moment, it’s difficult to perform a full analysis (of the project) because the available documents are very vague and details are still missing,” Zurbruegg said at an event in Zurich, adding how regulators handle the project — both nationally and internationally — remained a critical point.​

Facebook Inc.’s Libra digital currency will be a focus for antitrust and financial regulators in the near future, EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said, confirming an early-stage probe into how the new payment system will work.

“From both a competition and a financial stability perspective, Libra will have our interest,” Vestager told reporters in Copenhagen. She said the EU sent questionnaires out earlier this month to gather information on Libra.​

The EU is examining how Libra will be run and how Facebook might link it to data from its social network and messaging apps, over concerns the proposed currency might unfairly shut out rival payment providers or set unfair curbs on those participating in it. European data-protection authorities are also looking at Libra.

Facebook’s (FB.O) proposed Libra currency could undermine the European Central Bank’s ability to set monetary policy and Europe should ignore its siren call of “treacherous promises” ECB board member Yves Mersch said on Monday.
Like regular currencies, Libra would be highly centralized, an “extremely concerning” setup since it is not backed by a lender of last resort and it is ultimately accountable to shareholders, who are not seen as repositories of public trust, Mersch added.

“It is scheduled for release in the first half of 2020 by the very same people who had to explain themselves in front of legislators in the United States and the European Union on the threats to our democracies resulting from their handling of personal data on their social media platform,” Mersch added.​